The Early Years
Dick was born in Lamorna Cove in 1950. The son of a Cletus, a fisherman, and Cornwall’s most famous harpsichord player, Demi Strawbridge. Unusually for the time and the area, the Strawbridge family were not Methodist but practicing Cthonic Pagans.
Much of Dick’s early childhood is unremarkable. He went to the local grammar school where he excelled in humanities and the arts. He played rugby for Newlyn Boys and, with his mother’s tuition, became an accomplished harpsichordist in his own right – an ability he retains to this day.
Where Sea Eagles Dare
Yet there are morsels of compelling evidence that imply that as a lad, Dick Strawbridge was not as ‘green’ as he is today. His closest childhood friend told me, after some persuasion, that Dick used to singlehandedly - and without rope - scale the cliffs between Lamorna and Mousehole “egging” – an act that even then was highly illegal. The most prized eggs were those of the albatrosses that were abundant in the area until the early 1960s.
When Dick would find an egg he would hurl it down onto the rocks below, with the victory shout, “fly birdy! Fly!” echoing above the waves. Was Dick responsible for the loss of these birds from mainland Britain? We will never know…but I suspect the timing is no coincidence.
In the next section we will follow Dick’s career in the armed forces and his later trek into TV and Radio fame: Investigating The Strawbridges Part Three: “Brothers In Arms, or Devil In Disguise?” will be published shortly.
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